University of Colorado students host first Indigenous pow-wow in over two decades

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On Saturday, for the first time in a couple of decades, University of Colorado Boulder Indigenous students celebrated their ancestral lands.

Thanks to that, CU student Alfredo Bitsoi got a little taste of his hometown of Tohatchi, New Mexico in Boulder.

"It's having a bit of home come with us here," Bitsoi said.

CU hosted the first major pow-wow in 23 years on Farrand Field in Boulder.

"It's a cultural gathering for all Indigenous people to come together, celebrate, recognize one another, honor one another," said Bitsoi. "They do these events for students, veterans, honor people in their communities is just basically to like, uplift the community, bring them together."

It's not that Indigenous people didn't want to host one for the past 23 years, it's just that organizing a pow-wow with representatives from all over North America takes a lot of work and money.

"We just really haven't had the funds or the support or the manpower to be able to do it," said CU student Maya Linsenmeyer.

But this year, students like Bitsoi and Linsenmeyer were determined to share their cultures with each other and the rest of the Boulder community.

"Us as students had really gotten into our heads that like, we want to pow-wow, and we know we've done it before so we can do it again," Linsenmeyer said.

They spent a year getting sponsors and planning this event.

"I spent most of my spring semester, 10 organizers forming a committee trying to get funding started, which took a long time and it kind of intertwined with my studies a little bit," Bitsoi said.

At the end of the day, they say it was worth it.

"It shows that we have a community here, like, hey, we are here, we're still here. And it shows that we can reclaim our land," Bitsoi said. "This is our land."

Bitosi said the event was for them and the people who were here before the university: "We show our ancestors, hey, we're back here again."

Michael Abeyta

<img alt="Michael-Abeyta.jpg " height="80" width="80" class=" lazyload" srcset="https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2020/04/29/dd3c9b9a-6340-43b5-a0d9-d7260c4aeadc/thumbnail/80x80/715cf0add85988eb3be578a0e72e2af6/Michael-Abeyta.jpg?v=fa529222a2be3543711c1a879b51e860 1x, https://assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2020/04/29/dd3c9b9a-6340-43b5-a0d9-d7260c4aeadc/thumbnail/160x160/5519588297c445430458e5c61c26da91/Michael-Abeyta.jpg?v=fa529222a2be3543711c1a879b51e860 2x"/> Michael Abeyta is a general assignment reporter/MSJ for CBS News Colorado. Read his latest reports or check out his bio and send him an email.

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